1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to 1-substituted derivatives of 4-methoxy-2,3,6-trimethylbenzene, and to a preparative process enabling these novel compounds to be produced. The invention also relates to the use of these compounds in either cosmetics or pharmaceutical preparations in the treatment of dermatological complaints connected with a keratinization (differentiation-proliferation) disorder, in the treatment of dermatological complaints having an inflammatory and/or immuno-allergic component, in the treatment of diseases of degeneration of conjunctive tissue and tumors, in the treatment of rheumatoid psoriasis as well as in an ophthalmological pharmaceutical preparation particularly for treating corneopathies.
These compounds may also be used in the treatment of atopy such as eczema.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The therapeutic activity of vitamin A in its acid, aldehyde or alcohol form is well known in dermatology (see, on this point, the publication "Experientia", volume 34, pages 1105-1119 (1978)); this activity in the treatment of cutaneous proliferations, acne, psoriasis and similar complaints will be referred to below by the generic expression "retinoid type activity".
It is necessary to distinguish between the retinoids and the carotenoids because these groups of products have neither the same toxicological properties nor the same pharmacological properties (see the publication by Richard Peto in "Cancer Surveys" vol. 2, No. 2, 1983 "The marked differences between carotenoids and retinoids: methodological implications for biochemical epidemiology.").
It has been found that products which have a structure similar to vitamin A also have a retinoid type activity, but that the secondary effect of a toxic hypervitaminosis could, in the case of some compounds, be multiplied by a smaller factor than the multiplication factor of the retinoic effect sought (see, on this point, "Eur. J. Med. Chem.-Chimica Therapeutica", Jan.-Feb. 1980, 15, No. 1, pages 9-15); P. Loeliger et al. have described, in this latest publication, a derivative of the formula (I): ##STR1##